Television...redux
Aug. 1st, 2021 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Finished watching The Mandalorian - S2 - which ended well, much like S1, it had its slow bits. What worked was that it tied everything up in just two seasons. And the last two-three episodes were satisfying.
Well worth it for the last three episodes. Also favorite characters were Fenc (Ming Na-Weng) and Boba Fett - so smart doing a spin-off starring them entitled The Book of Boba Fett.
Also found the Jedi - Akosha, played by Rosaria Dawson, interesting.
Gianocarlo Esponsito is very good at playing villains, better than most. He reigns it in, which is the best approach. Also he got across fear well in the last episode when well... Luke shows up. And they did a good job with Luke, CGI a young Luke voiced by Hamil. Having Luke take the baby Yoda worked for me and was satisfying. It kind of had to be Luke. Also it gives a good idea of the placement of the series, which is between Return of the Jedi and Force Awakens
Star Wars is an interesting verse - because there's so much the films did not cover - which they can play with.
2. Voltron - the reboot of Voltron is actually pretty good. They fixed a bunch of problematic issues in the previous renditions, which included "Battle of the Planets" aka "G-Force" and then "Voltron", which aired in the late 70s and early 80s. The original was a touch chauvinistic, and very militaristic. I tried the original recently and cringed. A lot of stuff that aired in the 20th century does not date well.
The new version, has changed things a bit. The team is working for Atlean Princess to defend the Universe against invaders, as opposed to the Japanese military or Earth military. Also, the leader is female, with a team leader who is LGBTA, and a team member who we think is male, but actually a young woman pretending to be male. It also has them working to work together.
It's not as violent, militaristic, or macho as previous versions.
The animation also is slightly better.
3. She-Rah - made it to S4. While the animation improves with time, it still is rather basic and kind of flat. More cartoony than animated. I could draw it - and I prefer a more realistic less flat style. However it is better than most. And I like it better than the anime style of Blood of Zeus, which goes too far in the other direction. It kind of falls somewhere between The Masters of the Universe - Revelation and Steven Universe (I don't like Steven Universe animation at all, although that's a step above most cartoons.). I don't like "cartoon", prefer "animation", and they are two very different art forms.
I have more respect for animation, and understand what it entails. Cartoons are kind of easy.
That said, She-Rah is better written than Kevin Smith's Masters of the Universe, and a touch more subversive. It reminds me a little of Avatar (although Avatar is animation and She-Rah is cartoon).
***
Regarding movies - I think I'm more interested in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings than Black Widow. (I like watching martial arts, and the story interests me more since I'm less familiar with it and the character.)
***
Decided to try the Olympics after The Mandalorian - I've not been watching them. I don't really care one way or another. Mother has though. What's interesting is how they are doing the mask protocols and the audience ratio. The stands are almost entirely empty. Almost all te track and field for the US seem to be POC, which is interesting. Usually it's more white folks.
I like track and field, swimming, diving, gymnastics and that's about it - events.
Mother was watching fencing - apparently mother took fencing in college at one point. I would have liked to see the skate boarding and surfing that were added this year - but missed them.
***
Fandoms continue to bewilder me in what they like and dislike in television shows. Tastes vary so much, and are never consistent, and often make no sense. I'm always bewildered by what others like. We're so different and how we view or perceive the world varies so much.
I restrained myself from telling one woman who used the word communism the way I might use fascism, that she most likely meant "fascists" since communism is an economic system, not a political one. And you can have fascism with capitalism as well, its not limited to communism or socialism or any one economic system. The US is a hybrid - capitalism and socialism, as is most if not all of Europe. While China is mainly a capitalistic system and Russia is also a Capitalistic System with some blend of communism in there.
I have issues with all of the economic systems, they all are problematic in different ways. Humans are selfish - so as a result, economic systems are all flawed.
That said? The hybrids work best. Capitalism is horrible by itself. And Socialism is too. You really need a blend of the two - go too far one way, and you end up crippled with bureaucracies and corrupt political appointees, go too far in the other direction - you end up with environmental issues, wealth inequalities, and abject poverty and pandemics.
Well worth it for the last three episodes. Also favorite characters were Fenc (Ming Na-Weng) and Boba Fett - so smart doing a spin-off starring them entitled The Book of Boba Fett.
Also found the Jedi - Akosha, played by Rosaria Dawson, interesting.
Gianocarlo Esponsito is very good at playing villains, better than most. He reigns it in, which is the best approach. Also he got across fear well in the last episode when well... Luke shows up. And they did a good job with Luke, CGI a young Luke voiced by Hamil. Having Luke take the baby Yoda worked for me and was satisfying. It kind of had to be Luke. Also it gives a good idea of the placement of the series, which is between Return of the Jedi and Force Awakens
Star Wars is an interesting verse - because there's so much the films did not cover - which they can play with.
2. Voltron - the reboot of Voltron is actually pretty good. They fixed a bunch of problematic issues in the previous renditions, which included "Battle of the Planets" aka "G-Force" and then "Voltron", which aired in the late 70s and early 80s. The original was a touch chauvinistic, and very militaristic. I tried the original recently and cringed. A lot of stuff that aired in the 20th century does not date well.
The new version, has changed things a bit. The team is working for Atlean Princess to defend the Universe against invaders, as opposed to the Japanese military or Earth military. Also, the leader is female, with a team leader who is LGBTA, and a team member who we think is male, but actually a young woman pretending to be male. It also has them working to work together.
It's not as violent, militaristic, or macho as previous versions.
The animation also is slightly better.
3. She-Rah - made it to S4. While the animation improves with time, it still is rather basic and kind of flat. More cartoony than animated. I could draw it - and I prefer a more realistic less flat style. However it is better than most. And I like it better than the anime style of Blood of Zeus, which goes too far in the other direction. It kind of falls somewhere between The Masters of the Universe - Revelation and Steven Universe (I don't like Steven Universe animation at all, although that's a step above most cartoons.). I don't like "cartoon", prefer "animation", and they are two very different art forms.
I have more respect for animation, and understand what it entails. Cartoons are kind of easy.
That said, She-Rah is better written than Kevin Smith's Masters of the Universe, and a touch more subversive. It reminds me a little of Avatar (although Avatar is animation and She-Rah is cartoon).
***
Regarding movies - I think I'm more interested in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings than Black Widow. (I like watching martial arts, and the story interests me more since I'm less familiar with it and the character.)
***
Decided to try the Olympics after The Mandalorian - I've not been watching them. I don't really care one way or another. Mother has though. What's interesting is how they are doing the mask protocols and the audience ratio. The stands are almost entirely empty. Almost all te track and field for the US seem to be POC, which is interesting. Usually it's more white folks.
I like track and field, swimming, diving, gymnastics and that's about it - events.
Mother was watching fencing - apparently mother took fencing in college at one point. I would have liked to see the skate boarding and surfing that were added this year - but missed them.
***
Fandoms continue to bewilder me in what they like and dislike in television shows. Tastes vary so much, and are never consistent, and often make no sense. I'm always bewildered by what others like. We're so different and how we view or perceive the world varies so much.
I restrained myself from telling one woman who used the word communism the way I might use fascism, that she most likely meant "fascists" since communism is an economic system, not a political one. And you can have fascism with capitalism as well, its not limited to communism or socialism or any one economic system. The US is a hybrid - capitalism and socialism, as is most if not all of Europe. While China is mainly a capitalistic system and Russia is also a Capitalistic System with some blend of communism in there.
I have issues with all of the economic systems, they all are problematic in different ways. Humans are selfish - so as a result, economic systems are all flawed.
That said? The hybrids work best. Capitalism is horrible by itself. And Socialism is too. You really need a blend of the two - go too far one way, and you end up crippled with bureaucracies and corrupt political appointees, go too far in the other direction - you end up with environmental issues, wealth inequalities, and abject poverty and pandemics.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-02 09:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-03 01:27 am (UTC)I'm not really much of a shipper - it's kind of masochistic. Actually it's highly masochistic with Voltron - since the romances are almost non-existent, and the only one that is kind of existent, is killed off in the eighth season. I honestly think most shippers are masochists.
I tend to avoid the anime/cartoon fandoms and comics fandoms like the plague. The shippers in those fandoms are crazy. Actually daytime soaps are bad too - you have to find a moderated, and I do mean "moderated" general character fan board. Kind of like Buffy - actually - important to find a heavily moderated, general character, non-fanfic, more discussion oriented or spoiler related fan board. Otherwise you are going to run into insane ship wars.
It requires effort and time - though. Also lots of jumping about. It took me about six months to find ATPOBTVS - and I did it through someone named Yoda - who liked my essays and wanted to share them to that board.
A good fan discussion board is really hard to find.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-02 01:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-03 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-02 06:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-03 01:29 am (UTC)